Practically any – webinars, workshops, periodic meetings, conferences, as well as concerts, screenings, galas, product launches. The methods of organising events must be adjusted to the requirements of the online world where drawing a person’s attention is more difficult. The rightly selected tools, means of communication and dynamics in vision may help solve the problem. The key to success is to change the approach to and start considering online events more as television productions, rather than conventional meetings. 

A streaming platform looks like a typical website with one crucial difference, i.e. it features a player window that allows a live broadcast of the event.

The platform is based on a template that you may adjust with regard to appearance and content to the requirements of the meeting. There are a multitude of streaming platforms varying in terms of appearance, extent to which the template may be interfered with, and add-ons, but each platform contains the same basic functions.  

It is a crucial stage of organising an event to define the group of the viewers and methods of verifying them. There may be many stages of securing a live stream, from those fully open, through to those secured by password and participants list dedicated to the event and provided by the organiser. We have therefore full flexibility in selecting the method of accessing the live stream. It must be borne in mind, though, that some options may be accessible only for registered viewers, which gives us control over the access to sensitive content and provides us with more data about the viewers’ group.

Online events may be organised 100% online, i.e. both the facilitators or speakers, and the viewers will remain at home during the entire event. The most important thing will therefore be the right streaming platform that makes it possible to watch and broadcast the content. Of crucial importance here will be the communication between technicians and speakers, as well as prior broadcast rehearsals to check the internet bandwidth and provide instructions how to best deliver a lecture during a live transmission.

The right film studio facility is one that allows developing the agreed concept and scenario. Before we make the choice, we must define the goal of the event and the scope of activities. A film studio may be selected from the existing offer or any other space may be selected and equipped with adequate technology (a mobile studio). Depending on the specifics of an online event, among available options are photo studios, virtual green screen setups, diode sets, or podiums, i.e. stages built for large television or online productions.

The studio equipment depends on the type of the hired space and the type of event to be delivered. The most important components of any online event include cameras, vision mixers, and vision production. The number and types of cameras depend on the type of event. In a production focused on delivery of knowledge, e.g. webinars, lectures or training we recommend using two cameras. In the case of larger events, the number of cameras should be adjusted to the agreed scenario, but the more sources of vision, the greater the opportunity to make the vision more dynamic. Broadcasting live events requires one more element – a fast internet connection guaranteeing a smooth transmission. Where a particular venue does not possess a sufficient internet connection, we set up an independent network infrastructure. Good quality vision requires superior lighting, and clear sound requires best microphones. Another piece of equipment is therefore lights as well as noise cancellation devices. An important role is also played by set design and the arrangement of space that must be adapted to the agreed concept and scenario.

An event that gathers ‘in-person’ audience before the stage and virtual audience in front of computer screens is a so-called hybrid eventIt differs from a conventional event in that what is going on on the stage is recorded by cameras and broadcast to the online audience. Difficulties may be posed by the necessity to take into consideration two distinct target groups – the guests being present in person and those attending online. The event scenario must be carefully planned to engage all viewers and provide them with presentation of knowledge in proper form.  The hybrid form allows increasing the size of the audience, therefore it will be a tool used also after the pandemic and restrictions disappear. Before that happens, though, rules should be applied to improve the safety of the audience by keeping distance, providing face masks and hand sanitisers.

Sustaining the attention of an online event participant is the greatest challenge facing the organisers of virtual events. Conventional events were based on full sensory experience through vision, sound, smell, touch, and an opportunity of direct communication with another person. In the virtual world the main tools are vision and sound, as well as communication where contemporary technology is the intermediary. With limited means of communication and reduced capacity to attract the viewer’s attention, we must use the potential of the remaining ways to the maximum. It’s worth tapping into the expertise of those who have for decades provided viewers with experiences filled with emotions – producers of television films and shows. In delivery of large-scale online events, such as galas or product launch events, we recommend using the support of a film crew (script writer, director, production manager).